Ohel’s dedicated pregnancy and postpartum division can help you thrive during this beautiful (but sometimes difficult!) time. All the details, below.
Pregnancy and post-pregnancy are both some of the most exciting stages in a woman’s life, and the most vulnerable. Whether it’s your first pregnancy or your sixth, or if you just brought home your first or your third, you get it! It’s a time full of joyous potential and possibility, and maybe also a time fraught with anxiety or depression. But now, instead of bearing down and ‘getting through it,’ support is available, within the frum community.
Meet Ohel’s perinatal and postpartum programs, where staff is trained and certified to help you during this season with a variety of treatment options to support you, help you foster a healthy attachment to your baby, and transform this into a season of joy.
Let’s hear from Raizel Keilson, LCSW, clinical supervisor at Ohel. ‘During pregnancy, there’s such a huge focus on the mother’s medical health. We’re monitoring her blood pressure, taking different measurements, etc, and that’s of course super important. But it’s statistically much more likely for a woman to have a perinatal mood disorder than it is pre-eclampsia! And although women can suffer through this time and make it out on the other end in one piece, we don’t want you to suffer through that time unnecessarily. We want you to thrive in this season, to be able to bond with your baby and create a healthy attachment.’
What does treatment during pregnancy and postpartum at Ohel look like? ‘It can be as simple as their psychoeducational program: 6 sessions of educational information delivered to a pregnant woman to prepare her for an easier adjustment after baby.’ explains Tzivy Reiter, Director of Clinical and National Trauma Services at Ohel. ‘Or it could be cutting-edge perinatal CPP for a woman who may have a barrier in attaching to her baby such as a prior pregnancy loss: to help her recover from the trauma and connect with and love her baby in utero.’
In addition, women who are experiencing some surprisingly common conditions and symptoms such as intrusive thoughts, depression or anxiety postpartum, can find understanding, support and trained therapists who can help with these treatable conditions – setting both mother and baby on a healthier trajectory during the impactful first year of caring for a newborn.
‘It doesn’t have to be 10 years of digging deep, intense therapy!’ continues Raizel, ‘It can be a simple process, where we can help you put systems in place that can be super impactful on you and your baby. If you don’t have childcare and you’re postpartum, we’d love you to bring your baby along! If you can’t get out, we can also see you through telehealth. We want you to see you functioning well and forming a healthy attachment to your baby.’
Ohel has a treatment clinic specializing in perinatal mental health in Brooklyn, and another opening shortly in Far Rockaway. You can reach out to Ohel at (718) 686-3259, or by email at access@ohelfamily.org to find out more information about their perinatal and postpartum treatment options, or how they can support you.
You don’t need to suffer through it. With Ohel’s help, you can be your best self throughout this beautiful pregnancy and postpartum season.
